RSJ News
Twitter Journalism
03-07-2009
A real-time Twitter conversation accompanies the keynote address at the Nevada Interactive Media Summit March 7.
While Jesse Stay, CEO of SocialToo, spoke to a standing-room-only crowd, audience members responded via Twitter to his talk. The messages were broadcast in the front of the room.
When asked how a person like Stay might make money through social networking, a light-hearted comment appeared on the Twitter feed: “Presenting at conferences about Twitter is one way to make money with Twitter.”
Laughter ensued.
Stay was the key-note speaker at the Nevada Interactive Media Summit March 7, part of Journalism Week at the Reynolds School. The sold-out event brought together bloggers, podcasters, filmmakers, media professionals, advertisers and public relations specialists from Northern Nevada.
“A lot of people want to know about this new media stuff,” said Ed Lenert, journalism professor and event organizer. “This is like the 1920s when radio was called wireless telegraphy and people didn’t know what to use it for.”
Stay said he has 10,000 followers on Twitter, a micro-blogging tool that allows users to send short instant messages to groups of people.
“And that’s not as many as some people,” he said. “It’s the largest conversation in the world.”
During an earlier J-Week presentation on traditional investigative reporting, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Charles Shepard told students: “I shudder at the thought that Twitter is journalism.”
Within seconds, his comment had been “tweeted” by Jessica Estepa (jmestepa) to Twitter users following the #jweek Twitter group.
“Obviously an instant classic,” tweeted mrjerz, a Reno blogger.
Stay spoke about many journalistic uses for social media, from conducting and following political campaigns to doing community organizing to providing up-to-date information on accidents or natural disasters.
He showed a Google map listing sites and Twitter feeds during fires last year in Los Angeles.
Event attendees including Reno Gazette-Journal reporters, lawmakers, teachers, marketers, librarians and communications specialists from the Washoe County School District.
Though the school district won’t be tweeting any time soon, a Facebook page is in the works.
Community activist Bob Tregilus was fascinated by the uses of interactive media as a tool to organize groups of like-minded citizens.
“I just got on Facebook,” he said. “And it’s an amazing tool.”
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